Losing forward Danilo Gallinari has been detrimental for the Denver Nuggets.

He gave Denver energy and athleticism. He gave Denver size and depth. Above all, he gave Denver long-term hope.

Since trading all-star forward Carmelo Anthony to New York for Gallinari, Denver has played unselfish, team basketball. They’ve also proved that they don’t need a significant scoring force to succeed.

A large portion of the credit should go to Gallinari, an athletic team player who basically became the new face of the franchise.

Since he rolled and severely sprained his left ankle Feb. 6 against the Houston Rockets, the Nuggets haven’t been the same. They’ve lost five of their past eight games.

To add insult to injury, they went from being as high as the second seed in the Western Conference standings to fighting for the final playoff spot in a matter of days.

The really unfortunate thing is that Gallinari is out for at least the rest of February.

While point guard Ty Lawson has done well in orchestrating the team and adding an extra 10-20 points to the offense every night, Gallinari is the heart and soul of the team.

Gallinari is a pivotal presence on the court, finding different ways to score and to create big plays.

He can seamlessly bolt from one side of the court to the other, drive inside, shoot from 3-point land and score in transition. He also uses his athleticism to his advantage.

He’s even shown some glimpses of solid, dependable defense.

The 23-year-old Italian is virtually everything a team looks for in a future star they can build around.

That’s why Denver needs him back soon. The shortened season is coming to a close, and Denver’s slowly fading away from the playoff picture and might not even make it in.

Before Gallinari got hurt, one could bank on the Nuggets being a top-four Western Conference team and possibly make a run to win the West.

Now, they’re in a position where the least they can do is make the postseason. Even if they have to settle for the seventh or eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, they’ll have Gallinari back in time to wreak havoc in the postseason.

While playing without Gallinari isn’t exactly enlightening, all Denver can do is continue playing team basketball as long as it can until he returns.

That hasn’t been easy so far.